Was reminded that I didn't posted anything yet so, here's a post of a recent visit to this mine. This one is not the safest one :-) . Some parts are already collapsed.
There are several levels but the lower did we skip. Heard that the air quality is not the best there and we didn't bring the rope ladder .
Was nice to explore. Hope you enjoy looking at this.

Hi everyone!
I'm looking for people to visit locations together, somewhere in Belgium, NL, Luxembourg, France, or nearby)
I'm rather experienced with urbex, but I don't really like doing it alone and it's hard to find people who also understand what they're doing at locations.
I'm mostly interested in metro/underground stuff and roofs. Soon I'm planning to search for some roofs in Brussels and Amsterdam, and check out local metro.
If you'd like to join me - let me know!

Ouvrage Hobling is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line. Hobling was approved for construction by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in 1931 and became operational by 1935, at a cost of 14 million francs. The contractor was Gianotti of Nice. Hobling consists of four combat blocks. The blocks are linked by an underground gallery with barracks and a utility area (usine). The galleries are excavated at an average depth of up to 30 metres (98 ft).
In June 1940 the garrison comprised 115 men and 4 officers of the 164th Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF). The commanding officer was Captain Boileau. The Casernement de Férange provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Hobling and other positions in the area. The units were under the umbrella of the 3rd Army, Army Group 2.
Hobling played no significant role in either the Battle of France in 1940 or the Lorraine Campaign of 1944. After the Second World War it became part of the Mòle de Boulay, a strongpoint in the northeastern defenses against Soviet attack. Hobling remained under Army control until after 1971, when it was declassified and sold. Sold in 1975, Hobling has been partially stripped by salvagers and is abandoned. The salvage work stopped with the removal of all metals, including cloches and turrets, from two blocks. Hobling was the last ouvrage to be stripped.
Visited with @The_Raw
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Visited recently on my first foray over to the European side of life (can't believe it has taken so long). It was excellent / cold in the snow!
History:
On May 9, 1899, Kaiser Wilhelm II laid the first stone of Fort St. Blaise. Group Fortification Verdun group is built on top of two hills, it consists of two forts, the fort Sommy 30 ha in the south, and Fort Saint-Blaise 45 ha on the north. Group Fortification Verdun has four 150mm howitzers and six short 100mm guns. Fort St. Blaise was planned for 500 men and fort Sommy for 200 men. It could then receive two infantry companies, in addition to the gunners. St. Blaise, whose fortified barracks could receive 500 people, has 10 observation domes and 12 lookout posts.[4] The water tank's capacity was 1,300 m. 4 diesel engines of 25HP each, providing the energy necessary for Fort St. Blaise. The fort Sommy, including the fortified barracks, could accommodate 200 people, and has 6 observation domes and 8 lookouts. Its water tank could hold 600 m and it had 3 diesel engines of 20HP each, to provide the energy needed for its operation.[4] The coat of arms of Count of Haeseler is carved on the pediment of the door of the fort.
It caused the Americans a huge headache in WW2 and proved its worth as a fortified location. Patton underestimated their strength immensely.
Fort St. Blaise:
The first of the two forts, complete with short 100mm funs in place showing battle damage.
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Collapsed structure / battle damage
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
The thing you don't realise until you get there is that the French Army have not removed any of the barbed wire entanglements, complete with foot spikes and in some places, unexploded ordnance
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Fort Sommy:
The smaller outer fort, with a machine gun cupola and two turrets with guns and a tonne more battle damage, with craters and wall collapses all over the shop!
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr
Untitled by Nick, on Flickr

The colliery Saint Fontaine was opened in 1908. For the extraction of hard coal, they dug to a depth of 1037 meters. In the 1960s, up to two million tons of hard coal were mined. In 1972 the colliery was closed for the first time, but in 1976 the operation was resumed. In 1986, the final closure, whereupon a large part of the buildings were demolished. Today, apart from the listed tower, only the administrative building including the locker room / pithead baths exists. In recent years, unfortunately, there was a lot of vandalism; last the ceiling lamps were destroyed by some idiots.
In Saint Fontaine, there were repeated fatal accidents.
On 3 January 1933, 36 miners were killed in a gas explosion.
On May 29, 1959, another 26 workers were killed in another explosion.
On September 23, 1968, three miners smothered.
Visited with @The_Raw.
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Another visit from October with @Andy, @Maniacand@extreme_ironing. From seeing Andy's report I missed quite a few bits but you can't see everything unless you spend the whole day down there. Another epic bit of WW2 history and there's lots more out there.
Ouvrage Mont des Welches, a gros ouvrage of the Maginot Line fortifications, is part of the Fortified Sector of Boulay. It comprises two entrance blocks, one infantry block, one artillery block, one observation block and two combination blocks. The underground gallery system is compact, about 200 metres (660 ft) from end to end, and unlike larger ouvrages where the gallery system is linear in concept, the central portion of Mont des Welches is a dense network of tunnels crossing one another, housing the barracks and utility areas. The galleries are excavated at an average depth of up to 30 metres (98 ft). Unlike most gros ouvrages, its 60 cm internal rail network was not electrified, relying on human power to move the rail cars. Relatively small for a gros ouvrage, Mont des Welches saw a brief period of sharp action in June 1940, when German forces moving along the rear of the Maginot Line engaged the position without success. The manning of the ouvrage in June 1940 comprised 490 men and 17 officers of the 167th Fortress Infantry Regiment and the 151st Position Artillery Regiment. After modest renovations in the 1950s, it was abandoned in the 1970s.
Bon journée

This fortress was constructed by the Germans from 1907-1914. It served German soldiers during the First World War but saw little action. Then it was occupied by the French between 1919 & 1940, where it was incorporated into the maginot line for WWII. After the departure of French troops in June 1940, the German army took back the fort. On September 2, 1944, it was declared a fortress of the Reich by Hitler. The stronghold must therefore be defended until the last extremity by German troops, whose chiefs all took an oath to the Führer. In October 1944, the fort was captured by the American 3rd Army in the Battle of Metz.
Definitely one of the best military sites I've visited yet. Amazing to think it served both WWI & WWII yet remains in such good condition today. There are dozens of murals dating back over a century, and 1,700m of tunnels connecting various sections. I had to be dragged away as I could have spent a week in here. Visited with @Maniac @extreme_ironing and @Andy.
"Flourish German fatherland"
"Cameroon child in Munich" / "Man does not agree"
"Booze kills, so do not drink so much!" (or something to that effect....)
"Beautiful is the recruit life"
"Whoever quarrels or rushes gets the hell out of it"
"May God punish England"
Thanks for looking y'all

Fort Jeanne d'Arc, also called Fortified Group Jeanne d'Arc, is a fortification located to the west of Metz in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany to the west of the town of Rozérieulles in the early 20th century as part of the third and final group of Metz fortifications. The fortification program was started after the German victory of the Franco-Prussian War, which resulted in the annexation of the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine from Germany to France. The Fort Jeanne d'Arc was part of the Moselstellung, a group of eleven fortresses surrounding Thionville and Metz to guard against the possibility of a French attack aimed at regaining Alsace and Lorraine, with construction taking place between 1899 and 1908. The fortification system incorporated new principles of defensive construction to deal with advances in artillery. Later forts, such as Jeanne d'Arc, embodied innovative design concepts such as dispersal and concealment. These later forts were designed to support offensive operations, as an anchor for a pivoting move by German forces into France.
The Feste Kaiserin, as Fort Jeanne d'Arc was called by the Germans, with seven other Metz forts, assured the protection of Metz against French attack. It is one of the largest of the Metz forts. Positioned to the rear of the principal lines of combat in the First World War, the fort never saw combat in that war, but was captured by advancing American forces in the Lorraine Campaign of World War II after resisting for nearly a month.
Fort Jeanne d'Arc was designed for a garrison of 1900 men and armed with six 100mm guns in two batteries, six 150mm howitzers in two batteries and four 77mm guns in casemates. Four separate fortified barracks housed troops, with underground galleries connecting the battery, barracks, and infantry positions. In addition, four bastion-like points on the north, south, east and west housed infantry strongpoints. Barbed wire entanglements were swept by 77mm guns firing from bastions or counterscarp positions. The east and west strongpoints were separately enclosed with barbed wire entanglements and had their own barracks, while the west point additionally had an earthwork rampart with a caponier. A total of seven reinforced barracks had a capacity of 2580 troops.
The fortified barracks were built into a hillside so that their rears are shielded by earth, while the tops and fronts are protected by three or four metres of concrete, and are surmounted by parapets. The batteries are similarly constructed and linked to the barracks by underground tunnels at an average depth of 8 metres (26 ft) to 11 metres (36 ft) metres, extending over 2,350 metres (7,710 ft). The whole was surrounded by deep networks of barbed wire, which were swept by fire from small perimeter blockhouses, also linked via the tunnel system. The interior of the position was equipped with trenches for infantry. The barracks and batteries were further armoured with reinforced concrete and armored windows. A variety of blockhouses and infantry shelters were also built in the intervals between forts. The fort's surface extends over 121 hectares (300 acres).
The dispersed, un-walled nature of the later Moselstellung was a significant innovation. Compared to the French Séré de Rivières system forts of the same era, German fortifications were scattered over a large area and enclosed chiefly by barbed wire. While certain individual elements presented imposing walls to an attacker, these walls were not continuous. The dispersed nature is evidenced by the official French name: the Groupe Fortifié Jeanne d'Arc (Fortified Group of Jeanne d'Arc). These arrangements were studied and improved upon by the French in the construction of the Maginot Line.
Begun in 1899, Jeanne d'Arc was completed in 1908 and saw no action during World War I, as Metz remained well within German lines for the duration of the war. The fort was initially named Feste Point du Jour, but was renamed Feste Kaiserin on 12 May 1900. The fort was reinforced with concrete over the original stonework between 1912 and 1914. Some of the original yellow stone remains visible on the face of the barracks, ornamented with elaborate reliefs. With the Armistice of 1918, Lorraine was returned to France and the fort became French property.
The Metz fortifications contributed some of their long 100mm guns to replace the short 100mm guns at Thionville when France upgraded the Thionville sector to back up the Maginot Line fortifications in the area. Fort Jeanne d'Arc was the headquarters for the French 3rd Army in 1940. During the Battle of France the Metz area was bypassed and encircled by German forces, with the Maginot and earlier fortifications seeing little action before the Armistice of 1940.
In September 1944, the U.S. 5th and 90th Infantry Divisions of the U.S. Third Army, approached Metz from the west. They encountered the western arc of Metz defenses, including Fort Jeanne d'Arc and its neighbors Fort Driant to the south and Fort François de Guise to the north. The defenses of Metz were manned by the 462nd Volksgrenadier Division, attached to the German First Army, Army Group G. A total of about 9,000 to 10,000 combat-ready troops occupied Metz.
The combined fire of the forts stopped the American advance once initial contact had been made. An attack on Fort Driant beginning on 27 September was finally called off on 9 October after heavy U.S. casualties. After this check, a more patient strategy of encirclement and investment was pursued. achieving success with the capture of the Fort de Koenigsmacker at Thionville on 12 November. In mid-November a renewed attack was launched by XII and XX Corps to envelop and eventually bypass Metz. The U.S. 95th Infantry Division was stationed immediately to the west of Metz, in the vicinity of Fort Jeanne d'Arc, and maintained contact while the 5th Infantry and other U.S. formations moved to the north and south. An assault was opened by the 95th Infantry on 14 November, concentrating on the interval between Fort Jeanne d'Arc and Fort François de Guise, which was occupied by a chain of smaller fortifications known as the "Seven Dwarves." American forces were able to penetrate to the Moselle by 18 November, leaving a force behind to contain the forts. In the meantime, the surviving remnants of the 462nd Volksgrenadier consolidated a defense at Fort Jeanne d'Arc. At the end of November, three forts were holding out and surrounded by the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division. The Metz forts were gradually reduced through December. Fort Jeanne d'Arc was the last to surrender on 13 December 1944, capitulating to the U.S. III Corps.
Following the war, Fort Jeanne d'Arc was selected to become a NATO control center for air defense operations, manned by American, Canadian and French personnel. The site was designated the Moselle Common Area Control (MCAC), and provided air traffic control for a portion of Northeastern France and adjoining areas of Luxembourg and West Germany, along with approach control for four USAF bases as well as a flight plan service for RCAF Station Grostenquin. The facility occupied casernes 3 and 4, with the interior of Caserne 4 renovated to provide a two-level operations room. Work was largely financed by Canada, with a French contribution of 73 million francs. After France's withdrawal from the NATO integrated command structure in 1967, the center was operated solely by the French, finally abandoned in the late 1990s.
Visited with @The_Raw , @extreme_ironing & @Maniac .
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Ouvrage Mont des Welches, a gros ouvrage of the Maginot Line fortifications, is part of the Fortified Sector of Boulay. It comprises two entrance blocks, one infantry block, one artillery block, one observation block and two combination blocks. It is located between petit ouvrage Coucou and gros ouvrage Michelsberg, facing Germany. Relatively small for a gros ouvrage, Mont des Welches saw a brief period of sharp action in June 1940, when German forces moving along the rear of the Maginot Line engaged the position without success. After modest renovations in the 1950s, Mont des Welches was abandoned in the 1970s.
Mont des Welches was approved for construction by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in June 1930 and became operational by 1935, at a cost of 49 million francs. The contractor was Gianotti of Nice.
The comparatively small gros ouvrage comprises two entrance blocks, one infantry block, one artillery block, one observation block, and two combination blocks. It lacks a central "M1" ammunition magazine, and unlike most gros ouvrages, its 60 cm internal rail network was not electrified, relying on human power to move the rail cars. The underground gallery system is compact, about 200 metres (660 ft) from end to end, and unlike larger ouvrages where the gallery system is linear in concept, the central portion of Mont des Welches is a dense network of cross galleries between to main galleries, housing the barracks and utility areas. The galleries are excavated at an average depth of up to 30 metres (98 ft).
The manning of the ouvrage in June 1940 comprised 490 men and 17 officers of the 167th Fortress Infantry Regiment and the 151st Position Artillery Regiment, commanded by Chef de Bataillon Tari. The units were under the umbrella of the 42nd Fortress Corps of the 3rd Army, Army Group 2.
Visited with @The_Raw, @extreme_ironing & @Maniac.
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This location is the one where you quickly hear the stories about: impossible, the mount everest of the urbex, don't even try ...
But sometmes this steel giant likes some company over too and there were rumours of a slight chance to get in.
The date was set already and actually something else was on the program but when one fellow exploer had heard that there were loopholes in the net of the impenetrable hell gate (read: fences, 3 rows of nato wire and another 200V power wire as icing on the cake) we wanted to attempt.
The hell gate was only a smaller obstacle, because once you pass you are on the playground of little demons in white vans that approach almost without any sound, or with a shepherd dog at their side.
With all of the above in mind, I had a very turbulent night's sleep 3 nights in advance. In the end, the steel gods favoured us that day, which enabled me to enjoy this beautiful exploration.
Very briefly it became exciting when there were 5 people in the building with helmets and hi-visability jackets. After some back-and-forth texting with my mates, and some cat and mouse tricks to avoid thm, I first hid in a closet and then rushed me to the top where the rest of our team was. Once there, I crossed the 5 fluos ... 5 eyes on me, 2 of them with open mouth. A French voice 'mais, elle est ici tout seule?' 'vous n'avez pas peur'?
It turned out to be just the most flashy explorers you can imagine, not to mention the decibels they produced.
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The first stop on a recent trip to France and Luxembourg with @Andy. A former limestone mine in France, later used during WW2 for the production of oxygen. Quite a small mine and mostly flooded but there were some nice photos to be had.
Thanks for looking

This building used to be a monastery but in the first World War it was turned into an emergency hospital for soldiers who fought in the trenches. Many Belgian soldiers were brought into care here, which explains why the ' don't spit on the floor" sign is both in French and English.
We came here on a chilly winters day in December. I loved how the warm sunlight supported the nice colours in the building.
It's also the first location in which i stripped down to take a selfie, to find out later on, loads of other explorers had been there on the same day. this could had turned out very awkward
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Thanks for watching.

This was the admin block for an adjacent steelworks. It was built in 1704, and despite being pretty battered nowadays, it still retains some of its former grandeur. The mixture of decay and natural light makes it quite photogenic. Plenty of reports from here before so this is just an update on its current state. Visited with @Maniac, @Andyand @extreme_ironing.
Thanks for looking you bunch of silly little tossers

Ouvrage Hobling is a lesser work (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Boulay, the ouvrage consists of two infantry blocks and two observation blocks, and is located between gros ouvrage Michelsberg and petit ouvrage Bousse, facing Germany. Hobling was approved for construction by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in 1931 and became operational by 1935, at a cost of 14 million francs. Hobling played no significant role in either the Battle of France in 1940 or the Lorraine Campaign of 1944. After the Second World War it became part of the Mòle de Boulay, a strongpoint in the northeastern defenses against Soviet attack. It remained under Army control until 1971, after which it was declassified and sold in 1975. It has been stripped of metals and left abandoned.
I've been to a fair few of these now. It's often a wild goose chase looking for the entrance in the middle of the forest but that's part of the fun. I think this was the only success we had out of 5 attempts that day so it was nice to get something done. There's hardly any pictures online so we weren't sure what to expect. It turned out to be in fairly good condition, no graffiti, the kitchen still intact, and a few other bits worth seeing. As with all of these bunkers it's an important piece of WWII history which is why I find them so fascinating no matter how little or how much is left. Visited with @Andy, afterwards I took him for a romantic meal
Not a good time to lose your footing....
[
One of the gun turrets
Thanks for looking

The infantry base Wolfsberg is a small part of the bigger fortress Kellermann, part of the "Group Fortification Lorraine". It was built in 1904 - 1906.
Visited with @The_Raw, @extreme_ironing & @Maniac.
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So this was more of a cheeky little explore than anything planned in advance. A few of us were in the South of France for the Urban Explorer Wedding of the Year, an event that was most definitely epic and involved many many drunken selfies of at least half a dozen drunken explorers (including the Bride and Groom) but hey that's another story and not one for here
The day after we left the Bride and Groom to do Honeymoony type things and took ourselves off on a trip to the local cokeworks/coal miney type place. It isn't epic or awesome but it was a pretty damn fine mooch to end the trip with.
It is a derpy derp and appears to be a popular place to burn out cars but worth a trip anyway
History is limited and in French so here is my best shot at something that vaguely resembles information but however doesn't mean a great deal to me and is probably worth skipping lol!....
The Sainte Marie open pit was a coal mine of the Mining Unit of Tam, H.B.C.M. (Houilleres du Bassin Centre Midi), in the south-western part of France, near Albi. In this area, a large amount of coal has been exploited by Underground mining. This pit was designed in order to exploit the coal remaining around the shaft (Saint Marie shaft) of an old Underground mine situated in the basin of Carmaux.The diameter at the top of the pit was 1200 metres and its final depth was expected to be 300 metres. The first 100 metres were composed of tertiary deposits (clay and sand) which covered the carboniferous formation. The average slope angle of the Tertiary is 37° (without benches) and in the Coal Measures, it was foreseen from 37° to 50° (with benches of 6 metres high) depending on the slope situaüon. At present üme, the depth of the mine is about 160 metres.
Nine coal seams have been mined by Underground working between 1900 and 1984. Different methods have been used depending on the thickness, the dip of the layer and the dimension of the panel. In fact, panels were backfilled, caved or undermined long-wall. The basin of Carmaux is a large synclinal split by a dense network of faults which directions are approximately N 140 E. The dips and the dip directions which was left around the shaft, but, close to the slopes, begin the old exploited long walls. These long walls are at different topographic levels due to the particular structure and have been exploited in panels lined by the faults odented approximately N140.
The first design of the open pit was done by a Standard geotechnical survey; this one has taken into account the geomechanical, hydrogeological, structural Parameters äs well äs the "decohesion", induced by the revival of subsidence due to old Underground mining. However, some mining slopes can locally present risks of slipping induced by old Underground mining.
Anyway here are a few pics
Thanks for looking

Ouvrage A28 is a smaller plant (petit ouvrage) of the Maginot Line.
The site was surveyed by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency; A28 was approved for construction in May 1931. It was completed at a cost of 11 million francs by the contractor Duval-Weyrich of Nancy. The petit ouvrage was planned for construction in two phases. The second phase was to provide a separate entrance block a short distance to the rear. Heavy water infiltration required the provision of more extensive drainage work than originally planned. The galleries are excavated at an average depth of up to 30 meters (98 ft).
The 1940 manning of the ouvrage under the command of Captain Coste comprised 127 men and 2 officers of the 161st Fortress Infantry Regiment.
A28 played no significant role in either the Battle of France in 1940 or the Lorraine Campaign of 1944. After the Second World War it became part of a strongpoint in the northeastern defenses against Soviet attack. A28 remained under Army control until after 1971, when it was declassified and sold.
Visited with The_Raw.
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The fortress with a lot of murals in its bunkers is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred. The Fortification was part of a wider program of fortifications called "Moselstellung", encompassing fortresses scattered between Thionville and Metz in the valley Moselle. The aim of Germany was to protect against a French attack to take back Alsace-Lorraine and Moselle from the German Empire. The fortification system was designed to accommodate the growing advances in artillery since the end of XIXth century. Based on new defensive concepts, such as dispersal and concealment, the fortified group was to be, in case of attack, an impassable barrier for French forces.
Covering an area of 83 ha, the Fortress is constructed from 1907 to 1914. The group fortification has 2 fortified barracks and can accommodate a total of 560 men. It has 8 pieces of artillery, 6 of them 100mm and 2 of them 77mm. It has eight domes and twenty observation points and lookouts. The various items are connected by 1,700m of underground galleries. In its water tanks, it has 2,640 m3 of water. The energy required for its operation is ensured by seven diesel engines of 27 hp each.
During The Annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, the fort receives a garrison of gunners belonging to the XVIth Army Corps. From 1914-1918, it served as a relay for the German soldiers at the front post. Its equipment and weapons are then at the forefront of military technology. In 1919, the fort was occupied by the French army. After the departure of French troops in June 1940, the German army reinvests the fort. In early September 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Metz, the German command integrates the fort into the defensive system set up around Metz.
In Second World War, on September 2, 1944, Metz is declared fortress Reich by Hitler. The fortress must be defended to the last by German troops.
Visited with The_Raw, extreme_ironing and Maniac.
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Oblivion State exists as an online forum to allow like minded individuals to share their experiences of Urban Exploration. We do not condone breaking and entering or other criminal activity and advise all members to read the FAQ articles about the forum and urban exploring in general. All posts are the responsibility of the original poster and all images remain copyright to the original photographer